Shloka 31
Adhyāya 60: Dāna vs. Yajña—Royal Giving, Protection, and Karmic Share
स्वकर्मभिर्मानवं संनिरुद्धं तीव्रान्धकारे नरके पतन्तम् । महार्णवे नौरिव वायुयुक्ता दानं गवां तारयते परत्र
svakarmabhir mānavaṁ saṁniruddhaṁ tīvrāndhakāre narake patantam | mahārṇave naur iva vāyuyuktā dānaṁ gavāṁ tārayate paratra ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Den Menschen, von seinen eigenen Taten eingeengt und in die Hölle grimmiger Finsternis stürzend, trägt im Jenseits die Gabe von Kühen hinüber—wie ein Boot auf dem großen Ozean, vom Wind getragen, sicher ans ferne Ufer gelangt.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that charitable giving—specifically go-dāna (the gifting of cows), praised as a high form of dāna—can rescue a person from the dire consequences of their own karma, functioning as a means of deliverance in the afterlife.
Vaiśampāyana states a moral illustration: a man bound by his deeds is depicted as falling into a dark hell, and go-dāna is compared to a wind-driven boat that carries someone across the vast ocean—an image for being carried safely beyond suffering to the farther shore.